Life
by Harmonde
Summary: Rowen and his friends were just out for a night of fun in the city when disaster struck, leaving Rowen alone to deal with his emotions. I wasn't sure what to rate this, but it's angsty so I rated it PG.


Life  
By Lady Strata   
  
Rowen stood alone, not even noticing the rain as it fell upon his shoulders. His hands hung limply at his sides. His blue hair had fallen between his eyes again, but he didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.   
His friends were gone; dead. He was alone in the world.   
Tears began to fall from Rowen's blue eyes. He tried to wipe them away with his sleeve, but it didn't help. They just fell faster.   
"Why?"   
The word came out in a strange, shaky voice that Rowen barely recognized as his own.   
"Why, guys, why? Why...why did you have to..." Rowen paused, barely able to force the next word out. "...die?" Rowen put his hands to his face as the tears fell freely down his cheeks and onto his jacket.   
Three weeks earlier, the five Ronin Warriors, Mia, Yuli, and White Blaze had been returning from a night in the city. Mia was driving. They had been so close to home when disaster struck.   
A car came around the corner at an amazing speed. It was raining hard, and the roads were slippery. If you drove too fast, there was a good chance there would be an accident. Which was about to happen tonight.   
The car headed straight for them. Mia tried to swerve out of its way, but it was no use. The car kept coming.   
Surprisingly, it didn't hit them head on. The car swerved at the last minute, then came back to ram into the front of Mia's jeep.   
Mia lost control. The jeep went off the road...and crashed right into a tree.   
The impact had deadly force. They had been hit hard.   
The other car had gone on to run right over poor White Blaze. The white tiger was killed instantly.   
So was Ryo.   
  
Everyone else was alive for the time being. But when the paramedics arrived, Sage was dead.   
Yuli died on the way to the hospital.   
Kento died during surgery.   
After their surgery, Rowen, Cye, and Mia lay unconscious in their hospital beds. No one knew whether they would live or die. All anyone could do was wait. Wait and see if there would be any more deaths that night.   
Unfortunately, there were.   
Mia died in the middle of the night. There was nothing anyone could do for her.   
Cye died the next morning.   
Rowen remained in a coma.   
Exactly one week later, Rowen woke up. At first all he knew was the pain. The doctors gave him painkillers to help fight it. They were a small comfort.   
He didn't remember much. He knew all the important things, like his name, where he lived, who his parents were, his birthplace...   
But what he couldn't remember, what he wanted to remember, was what had happened that night. He didn't know why he was in the hospital, and no one would tell him.   
Soon, Rowen remembered it all on his own. One day, he woke up to discover that he remembered everything about the night of the accident. He nearly made himself sick worrying about his friends. What had happened to them? Were they all right?   
When a nurse came into the room to see how he was doing, Rowen asked about his friends. The nurse's face took on a sad expression as she told him his friends were dead.   
Dead.   
His friends were dead.   
No, it couldn't be true...   
...but it was.   
The nurse asked him if he was all right, but Rowen didn't hear her. All he could think about was what she had just told him.   
Oh god, no...   
Rowen put his face in his hands and started to cry. Embarrassed, the nurse left the room.   
  
When Rowen was released from the hospital, he learned that he had missed the funerals of his friends. That was all right. He wouldn't have been able to handle it. Everyone would be staring at him, the lone survivor of the accident.   
He wanted to be alone when he said good-bye.   
So, as soon as he could, he went to the cemetery.   
  
Rowen stood in front of six graves. He thought White Blaze should have a grave too, but he guessed that tigers just weren't important enough to have graves.   
He dropped to his knees and continued to weep for his friends.   
Why had he survived when they hadn't? It just wasn't fair. None of it was. But then again, life was never fair.   
Rowen would have to learn to live with his pain. Learn to live with it for the rest of his life. Sure, he would try to forget the accident, but he would never forget his friends.   
He would never forget how they had always been there for him. How they had supported him when no one else had. When he thought that he was alone, that no one gave a shit about him, his friends showed him that they cared.   
But now he really was alone. Alone with his pain and his memories.   
Rowen was going back to live with his mother. He had wanted to live by himself in Mia's mansion, but no one would let him because he was only seventeen.   
He was going home with his mother the next day, but she had agreed to let Rowen visit the graves of his friends by himself before they left.   
Rowen lifted his face from his hands and spoke.   
"Well, guys..." he said hesitantly, almost as if he was trying the words out, "I came to say good-bye."   
He swallowed, wiped his eyes, and sniffled.   
"This shouldn't have happened. You were all too young to die. I shouldn't be alive. I should be in heaven-with you. No, that's not right. You should all be alive. But now I guess that's just not possible."   
Rowen swallowed again and continued.   
"I'm going to live with my mom. I wanted to stay at the mansion, but no one would let me because they said I'm too young to be living by myself.   
"My mom and I are leaving tomorrow, but I couldn't go without saying good-bye. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funerals, but I was still in a coma. So I'm saying my good-byes now."   
Rowen was silent for a full minute before he spoke again.   
"Don't worry, I'll be back. And someday, I'll see you guys again."   
He stood up. Rowen stared at the graves for a long time.   
"Good-bye."   
Rowen turned and left the cemetery.   
  
  
This fic is dedicated to my great-uncle Robert, who died nine days before "Life" was written.   



End file.
